


At The Zoo

by Kaunis_Sielu



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-02
Packaged: 2019-02-09 09:06:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12884607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaunis_Sielu/pseuds/Kaunis_Sielu
Summary: A day at the zoo goes from disaster to savior





	1. Chapter 1

“No!” You cry as a third child goes racing by crashing into your bag and launching the contents everywhere. You scramble to pick up the pencils and eraser before going to grab your sketchbook from the wide railing where you left it.   
“Jacob slow down!” A woman calls and you look up and watch in horror as your sketchbook goes flying into the enclosure. You close your eyes to keep from loosing it and take a deep breath.   
“Please don’t be in water. Please don’t be in water. Please please please.” You murmur under your breath as you open your eyes and make your way toward the railing. You peer over and let out a sigh of relief, it’s not in the water or in any poop which is also a relief. You turn away with a sigh to go try and find someone to help you, maybe a zookeeper or a lion expert or something when a woman’s scream pulls your attention back to the lion den. She’s pointing down into the den and for a moment you’re scared that a child has fallen in but to your surprise it’s actually an adult. A man is climbing down into the den! Of his own free will! He touches down and gets low, he moves slowly toward where your sketchbook has fallen, never taking his eyes off of the lions. He didn’t really just get into a lion’s den to retrieve your sketchbook did he? By this time a crowd has gathered to see if the, to be honest, extremely attractive man, is going to make it out in one piece.   
He scoops up the sketchbook and tucks it into his jacket then starts his climb back up the wall. He moves up the wall like it’s a ladder, moving easily toward you. His eyes meet yours and you’re startled by how blue they are. There is movement behind him and you look away from those eyes and see a lioness charging toward him.   
“Look out!” You cry and instead of climbing faster like you expect him to he drops down to the ground and turns to face the lion. The lion growls then takes a swipe at him catching his left arm. You cry out but he hardly seems fazed. He punches the lion once and it tumbles to the ground then looks at him in surprise. He stares it down then the lion stalks away and paces back and forth watching the man from a distance. He climbs the wall making it up this time and the group around you applaud.   
“Here.” He says softly passing you your sketchbook. You take it from him in awe. He gives you a small smile then moves away through the crowd. It’s not until he disappears from view that you snap out of your awestruck daze and chase after him.   
“Wait! Wait!” You cry pushing your way through the small crowd. “Wait!” You say as you catch up to him then slip in front of him. “That lion caught you in the arm with its claws!”  
“I’m fine.” He insists but you know what you saw.   
“You punched a lion.” You murmur. “It scratched you.”  
“No it didn’t.”  
“Yes it did.” You argue and he looks anxious.   
“No.”   
“Then why are there four long cuts in your sleeve?” He starts moving again you you trail after him. “Let me just make sure you’re okay.”  
“I’m fine.”   
“Why did you do that?”  
“What?”   
“Why did you go in there?”  
“I don’t know.” You don’t believe him, you introduce yourself then ask.   
“What’s your name?”  
“Bucky.”  
“Can I take you out for lunch?”  
“That’s not necessary.”  
“Please Bucky.” When you say his name he stops and looks at you, a small smile starts on his face.   
“Alright.”


	2. Chapter 2

The two of you make your way out of the zoo, moving at an easy pace. You would have thought he would have run since technically he did break the law. You glance anxiously over your shoulder and he slips an arm around your shoulders.  
“Relax.” He mutters, “Act natural.”  
“Do you break the law often?”  
“No. Let’s just move, nice and easy.”  
“So Bucky, why did you do that?”  
“I told you I don’t know.”  
“I don’t believe you.” The two of you head down the street and away from the zoo, your bag bumps against your hip as you cling to your sketchbook. It’s not until you get a few blocks away from the zoo that he talks again.  
“Just acting natural draws suspicion away from you.” He’s over a half foot taller than you with a nicely defined jaw and the eyes you’d noted before were the bluest you’d ever seen.  
“So, um. Where would you like to go for lunch?” You ask softly, you’re having a hard time thinking with his arm wrapped so nicely around your shoulders.  
“There’s this nice place down on fourth called Dot’s. It’s a little diner, food’s good.”  
“Okay.” You walk in silence for a while and you start to wonder if he’s ever going to remove his arm from your shoulders. Not that you mind, it’s actually kind of nice, you feel protected. He holds the door open for you and you duck inside. He guides you to one of the booths and you slide in. Flipping through your sketchbook you check to make sure that none of the drawings are ruined.  
“Can I see?” Bucky asks as he settles into the seat across from you. Normally you’d say no but he did risk his life for your book. So you pass it to him.

He looks through the sketchbook much slower than you would’ve thought. His eyes follow the lines your hands have made and it’s much more intimate than you would have thought it’d be. It was strange watching him so you focus on the menu in front of you.  
“What can I get for you darlin’?” A waitress pulls your attention.  
“Oh, um a chocolate shake please and some fries.” She nods.  
“The usual for you hun?” She asks Bucky who gives her a nod and a smile then turns the page of your sketchbook. You watch his face as he takes in the picture. Judging by the picture before it he’s looking at the one of the exotic bird you drew last week. Took you forever, damn bird kept flying away so you’d have to follow it then continue until it took off again. You could have sworn it knew what it was doing. He turns the page again, this is the second to last drawing you have, a lion stares out at him from the page and his mouth drops open slightly.  
“These are gorgeous.” He says handing you back the book which you quickly shut. If he’d started at the back you’d have died of embarrassment. Today wasn’t the first time you’d seen him. That was last week. He was watching the monkeys.  
“Thanks. I’m a background artist for Disney but I’m not quite good enough to move up yet.”  
“Isn’t a lot of that computer stuff now?” He asks taking the coffee the waitress brought and bringing the steaming cup to his lips.  
“It is but the department I work in still draws it’s just digitally.” You explain shoving your sketchbook into your bag.  
“Is that why you’ve been at the zoo so much lately?” He’d noticed you? Oh god, he didn’t notice you sketching him did he?  
“Uh, yea. We’re doing an animal picture and I’m used to doing people so I wanted to work on animals.”  
“Wait, so those are all just practice?”  
“They are.”  
“Could I see some of your people drawings?”  
“I don’t have any with me.” You lie as your food is brought to the table. He gets a fantastic looking club sandwich and the shake you get is at least two hands tall and full to the brim.  
“What if you did someone in here?”  
“I don’t know.” Why does he want to see your people drawings so badly anyway? “Why did you jump into the lion pit?”  
“You’re not going to let that one go are you?” He asks after swallowing a bite of his sandwich.  
“Not likely.” You say swirling a fry in your shake. “You could have been killed and I want to know why you’d do something like that.” You eye his sleeve again then continue, “and I know that lioness caught you in the arm, why aren’t you bleeding all over?”  
“You know it huh?” He asks with a smirk. You know you’re not wrong.  
“I do.” He takes another bite and you catch a glimpse of what’s under that sleeve, it shone like metal. “Do you have some super power or amputation that you’re not sharing?”  
“Why won’t you show me your people sketches?” He asks ignoring your question.  
“Why are you avoiding the question?” You challenge, raising an eyebrow.  
“I went into the pit because the look of total anguish on your face made me want to fix what was wrong.” Well that wasn’t what you were expecting.  
“Oh.” You say then take a long drink of your shake. “What if you’d gotten killed?”  
“I’m tougher than I look.”  
“Do you have any idea how guilty I would’ve felt if you’d been mauled or died?” You ask softly.  
“You don’t even know me.” He says, “I’m not even a good person.” He states matter of factly.  
“I’m trying to get to know you. Lord knows you’re not exactly making it easy. And I think you’re a good person.”  
“That’s cuz you don’t know me doll.” He mutters and you decide to drop it. You push your shake and fries to the side and pull out your sketchbook and pencils then finding a fresh page you begin to draw. You’re drawing him again before you know it. Each time you look up those blue eyes are focused on you with such intensity it makes it hard for you to breathe, let alone draw well. What secrets hide behind those blue eyes?


	3. Chapter 3

It doesn’t take you long to get his face structure down. He has such beautiful lines. You hand moves easily and when you’re distracted it seems to be easier to talk to him.   
“Where are you from Bucky?”  
“New York, well Brooklyn actually.”  
“What brings you to San Diego?”  
“A friend of mine suggested I travel, see the world some. Go places that I want to go.”  
“How are you liking it?”  
“Very much.” You continue to draw him when the food comes. Occasionally snagging a fry from the basket in front of you, Bucky sips from his coffee and continues to watch you draw in silence. It’s oddly comforting his protective gaze on you. It’s strange how quickly you’ve gotten used to his presence. When you finish the shape of his face your shake is more like chocolate soup than a shake.   
“What’s your favorite place you’ve been so far?” You ask starting on his eyes.   
“San Diego has been pretty interesting.” You glance up at him and swear your heart stops, he’s got this little smirk on his face and his eyes are practically searing into your soul.   
“Oh?” You cock and eyebrow at him then get back to work, “How long do you plan on staying?”  
“Longer now.” He flirts and you scoff at him. He’ll run, when he realizes what you are, they all run. Right now the last thing people want to be associated with is an inhuman.   
“If you want I can show you another cool place to eat while you’re here.” Why are you offering? The more time he spends with you the sooner he’ll find out what you are.   
“How does tonight work?” He asks.   
“Just fine. Now could you stop moving? I’m trying to get your mouth right.”  
“My bad.” He does that little smirk again and you have to bite your cheek to keep from laughing. Cheeky one this one. You work in silence for a few minutes until you finish with his mouth, still set in that little smirk.   
“Done.” You say signing the corner of the page. When you go to pull the finished picture from the sketchbook he stops you with a hand on your arm.   
“Don’t. Keep it. I know what I look like.” He stares at the drawing a bit longer, “I’d rather have one of you.”  
“I don’t do self portraits.” You say with a smile then pull a ten dollar bill from your wallet and place it on the table. “I need to go to another spot today to draw before we can go to dinner. Wanna meet back here at 6?”  
“Or I could come with you. Protect your sketchbook.” He grins and you can’t help but grin back.   
“Alright. It’s going to be boring.”  
“Okay.”  
“You’ve been warned.” You laugh as he follows you out of the diner, hopefully he wasn’t afraid of birds.


	4. Chapter 4

Bucky is patient the whole time. He watches you then will watch some birds fly around. He asks you questions about your family, how you like your job, what you do for fun. He’s charming but you know he’s hiding something, you did notice that he sat with the ripped sleeve furthest from you. The sun starts to set before you’re done with the three birds you’d set out to draw.  
“Sorry that took so long.” You say with a smile as you shove your sketchbook into your bag.  
“It was very relaxing.” You glance over your shoulder anxiously, this isn’t exactly the best neighborhood. It’s not that you don’t think that Bucky can take care of himself it’s just you don’t really want to have to deal with more danger tonight. Watching him almost get eaten by a lioness was enough.  
“Good. I was afraid you’d get bored.” You say with a laugh.  
“Not with you. I find you interesting.” He reaches over and drapes his arm over your shoulders again. This is nice. You’re almost out of the park when you see him. He’s hanging in the shadows but you can feel his eyes on you.  
“Bucky.” You whisper.  
“I see him doll.” He mutters, “I’ve got you.” You know he can feel how tense you are. You pick up your pace as you get closer to the man only to have your heart drop. He’s not alone.  
“What’s in the bag baby?” One of them calls, you ignore him and keep walking. “I’m talking to you.” He says going to grab your arm but Bucky is too fast for him. He shoves you behind him and blocks you from the man, whose clearly the leader of this little group.  
“Back off.” Bucky growls and the hair actually stands up on the back of your neck he sounds so dangerous.  
“You gonna make me?” The leader asks pulling up his shirt and showing off a gun.  
“Yea.” Bucky snarls.  
“With what army?” The gangster snickers.  
“Don’t need one.” The gangster takes a swing at Bucky who easily blocks him then throws him to the ground. The other two men rush him. He handles them just as easily but doesn’t see the first man pull his gun.  
“Bucky!” You cry dropping the pretense of being useless you use your powers to pull the ground up blocking him from their bullets. One dives around the corner and shoots at him once before you can block him off again and to your surprise Bucky just holds up a hand and the bullet flies off of it harmlessly. You knock the man out with a well thrown chunk of earth then Bucky grabs your hand.  
“We’ve gotta go.” He says then takes off running, you trailing along behind him.   
“So we have to talk.” You pant three blocks later.  
“Yea we do.” He says evenly. Of course he can sprint and be perfectly fine. “You’re an inhuman?”   
“Aren’t you too?”   
“No.”  
“But you stopped the bullet with your hand.” He pulls off his glove and you’re stunned to see that his hand is metal, not flesh like you assumed. “Woah.” You say in awe and you’re reaching out to touch it before you can stop yourself. It’s cooler to the touch than you thought it would be, you can feel the strength behind it. You turn it over and look at the palm, it’s a beautiful piece of machinery. “It’s beautiful.” You breathe then freeze when you realize what you’re doing and the blood rushes to your face heating it in a blush. Bucky laughs and you peek up at him through your lashes.   
“That’s not the usual reaction I get.” He grins down at you.   
“Is it just the hand?”   
“No it’s my whole arm.”  
“Can I see?” You ask before you realize that you’re kind of being a creep. Bucky pulls off his shirt and your jaw drops in surprise. The arm is literally fused to his shoulder in a somewhat crude fashion.   
“It’s kind of disgusting.” He says softly and you trace a finger along it. He sighs gently but doesn’t move.   
“It’s not. It’s incredible.” You say, the lines in it make you want to draw it, it’s really incredible. The way that it moves like a normal arm, you’d never have guessed. “Okay, so I’ve gotten to stare long enough. You can ask anything you want.”   
“How long have you hand your powers?”   
“Maybe six and a half months.”   
“How did you get them?”   
“Tainted fish. I bought it from a market and when I ate it I was encased in stone when that fell away I was left with the ability to move earth with a hand.”  
“Did it freak you out?”   
“It still does.” You admit with a small shrug.   
“Will you show me again?” You nod then turn away from him and reach a hand out then with a flick of the wrist you pull the earth up. It’s a large chunk that you crumble into pieces then throw into the wall.   
“Wanna go out with me?” You weren’t expecting that.   
“Yea.” He grins over at you and you move closer to him then wrap your arms around his waist.   
“Wanna go now?”   
“Antsy are we?” You tease and he chuckles.   
“Well, I did almost get eaten by a lion for you so yea.”   
“That’s fair.” You grin, so maybe almost having disaster strike and loosing all your work wasn’t for nothing. It was so you could meet Bucky.   
“Hey.” He says softly and when you look up at him he presses his lips to yours softly. You feel like you’re on fire, you wrap your arms around his neck and into his hair as his arms go tightly around your waist. This is right where you belong, wrapped in the arms of someone who doesn’t think you’re a freak. Someone who accepts you, powers and all.


End file.
